Restoration

Restoration of the Jonathan Dunham House interior began in October 2014, while Trinity Episcopal Church was in between ministers. The work continued after the Rev. Angela Cipolla became Trinity’s priest-in-charge and moved in with her family in August 2015. The project was directed by Steve Kalista, Trinity’s Building and Grounds Committee chairman at the time, and his wife, Sandy.

Work days were scheduled every Saturday at first, and then every other Saturday. Many of Trinity’s congregants donated their time and talents to the restoration as an act of Christian stewardship. You can see some of them at work in the first- and second-floor photos below.

Community volunteers also took part in the project. Perhaps the most notable example was Tooling Around the Township, an annual program in Woodbridge that organizes teams of residents to carry out home repairs. A crew from the program rebuilt porches on either side of the house in April 2015. The work is captured in the exterior photos below.

Contributions were made in other ways as well. Some people provided lunches for the volunteers. Others helped cover the costs of materials and skilled labor, which was necessary for work that went beyond the scope of the volunteers. The biggest expense in terms of labor was hiring a crew to repair plaster crown moldings on the first floor.

The interior work was essentially completed in early 2018. Although exterior restoration is also necessary, funding for the skilled labor needed to carry out that phase of the project isn’t yet available. Any help you can provide would be appreciated.